Law360 (June 18, 2026, 4:44 PM EDT) -- A Michigan appeals court panel upheld a parolable life sentence for a woman who was 20 years old when she took part in a 2007 drive-by shooting that left two people dead, finding that recent Michigan Supreme Court rulings limiting life sentences for young offenders do not apply to her case.

In a published opinion Wednesday, Judge Brock A. Swartzle and Judge Mark T. Boonstra said Sarah Elizabeth Sykes failed to show that her two concurrent life sentences for second-degree murder violate Michigan's constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

A separate concurring opinion from Judge Thomas C. Cameron addressed Sykes' claim of cruel and unusual punishment and her concern that the parole board has a "life means life" philosophy that makes her chances for parole "extremely remote."

"I believe this outdated assumption fails to account for changing attitudes and membership of the present-day parole board and overlooks the reality that parole grants for parolable lifers have increased significantly in recent years," Judge Cameron said.

Cameron went on to say that if the parole board ever did have a "life means life" policy, "evidence shows that it abandoned such a policy many years ago."

According to Cameron's opinion, Sykes will be eligible for parole in two years.

Sykes said in her appeal that because she was 20 at the time of the shooting, she should be treated as a juvenile because neurologically a 20-year-old and a teen are identical. The panel said Sykes never cited evidence to support that claim, nor did she reveal any mental or physical condition she suffered from that could be justification for a reduced sentence.

"From a factual standpoint, the defendant grounds her entire appellate claim on the bare fact that she was 20 years old when she participated in second-degree murder," the panel said, noting that although it was aware of Sykes' age at the time of the double homicide, it does not have other relevant facts or evidence such as testimony from scientific or neurological experts to support a reduced sentence.

Representatives for the parties could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday.

Michigan is represented by Gabrielle Ragland of the Washtenaw prosecutor's office.

Sarah Elizabeth Sykes is represented by Susan K. Walsh of The Law Offices of Susan Kaestner Walsh.

The case is People of the State of Michigan v. Sarah Elizabeth Sykes, case number 367133 in the State of Michigan Court of Appeals.

--Editing by Stephen Berg.

For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.